Springfield Preservation Trust, Inc. v. Springfield Historical Commission
Decision Date | 18 March 1980 |
Citation | 402 N.E.2d 488,380 Mass. 159 |
Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Parties | SPRINGFIELD PRESERVATION TRUST, INC. et al. v. SPRINGFIELD HISTORICAL COMMISSION et al. |
Ellen B. Kaplan, Springfield (Donna M. Schuckman, Springfield, with her), for plaintiffs.
Harry P. Carroll, Springfield, for Springfield Historical Commission & others.
Francis D. Dibble, Jr., Springfield (Charles S. Cohen, Springfield, with him), for MacDuffie School for Girls, Inc.
Thomas J. Reed, Springfield, for Society for the Conservation of the Architecture & Natural Environment, Inc., amicus curiae, submitted a brief.
Before HENNESSEY, C. J., and BRAUCHER, KAPLAN, LIACOS and ABRAMS, JJ.
The Springfield Historical Commission (commission), on July 5, 1979, granted the application of the MacDuffie School for Girls, Inc. (MacDuffie), for a certificate of hardship under the Historic Districts Act, G.L. c. 40C, §§ 6 and 10(c ), with a view to demolition of a historic building known as Bowles House. The plaintiffs sought review of that decision in the Superior Court. Their complaint was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and they appealed. We transferred the case from the Appeals Court to this court on our own motion, and we now affirm the judgment of dismissal. We hold that neither G.L. c. 40C, §§ 12A, 13, nor G.L. c. 214, § 1, conferred jurisdiction on the Superior Court.
We summarize the allegations of the complaint, as amended. The plaintiffs are a nonprofit corporation and six residents of the city of Springfield; one is a resident of the Maple Hill Historic District, in which the building in question is located. In August, 1978, MacDuffie, the owner of the building, filed the application for a certificate of hardship for the purpose of obtaining a demolition permit. In September, 1978, the commission voted six to zero, with one absence, to deny the application, adopting a staff report as its reasons. MacDuffie appealed to the Superior Court as an "applicant aggrieved" by the determination under G.L. c. 40C, § 12A. In June, 1979, on MacDuffie's motion assented to by the commission, the matter was remanded to the commission for reconsideration. On July 5 1979, by a vote of four to two, the commission granted the application. The vote, it is alleged, was arbitrary and capricious and otherwise contrary to law.
We agree with the judge that G.L. c. 40C does not confer jurisdiction of the case on the Superior Court. By its plain language, § 12A provides a remedy only for an "applicant," and the only applicant here was MacDuffie. Cf. Tranfaglia v. Building Comm'r of Winchester, 306 Mass. 495, 497, 28 N.E.2d 537 (1940). Under § 13 the Superior Court has "jurisdiction to enforce" c. 40C and any ordinance or by-law enacted under c. 40C and the determinations, rulings and regulations issued pursuant thereto "and may, upon the petition of the mayor or (of) the board of selectmen or of the commission, restrain by injunction violations thereof; . . ." The words in italics were added by St.1971, c. 359, § 1; like...
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